This account is pending registration confirmation. Please click on the link within the confirmation email previously sent you to complete registration.Need a new registration confirmation email? Click here

5 Rocket Stocks to Buy in February

BALTIMORE (
Stockpickr) -- With the first full trading week of February kicking off this morning, we're about to find out if last year's pattern of "new month, new market" is still going to hold true in 2013.

Stocks are starting off this morning's trading session in correction mode, not an altogether bad thing given the 1% hurdle higher in all three of the big indices. All told, the
S&P 500 rallied 5% in January, giving equities an annualized gain of 60% if they kept that pace for the whole year.

But just how long it lasts is another question. With considerable data coming out this week, Mr. Market could get snapped out of his sideways pause sooner rather than later. With the S&P 500 now just 3.3% of a new all-time high, the significance of another upward push is even bigger.

That's why we're taking a look at five new Rocket Stock names this week.

For the uninitiated, "Rocket Stocks" are our list of companies with short-term gain catalysts and longer-term growth potential. To find them, I run a weekly quantitative screen that seeks out stocks with a combination of analyst upgrades and positive earnings surprises to identify rising analyst expectations, a bullish signal for stocks in any market. After all, where analysts' expectations are increasing, institutional cash often follows. In the last 186 weeks, our weekly list of five plays has outperformed the S&P 500 by 75.17%.